Seven Minutes to Noon by Katia Lief

Katia Lief originally wrote this book under the pseudonym Kate Pepper for those of you who recognise the title but not the author. Seven Minutes to Noon is quite a short book but is full of detail and sweeps the reader into the pain of the story.

Quite a good read from start to finish the book draws attention to the people who are left to deal with the aftermath of a serious crime. It shows how Alice Halpern, whilst pregnant, deals with the death of her best (pregnant) friend, the police investigation, the normality of everyday life and caring for the rest of her family.

Alice also has to deal with the fact that whatever happened to her best friend Lauren might happen to her too as she soon realises that she is being followed. As her life changes from simple and fun into unhappy and dark can Alice managed to keep her life and her family together whilst the police find their culprit.

The book isn’t to graphic or dark but it is insightful and realistic which makes it an excellent read. Katia Lief aka Kate Pepper has written some great books, would suggest that thriller and horror readers give her a try.

Count to Ten by Karen Rose

Well what can I say, words seem to elude me when I am trying to give this book the highest praise possible. It is fantastic read, even at 661 pages the book is hard to put down and the plot flows past so quickly.

The book is a great thriller and had me wondering who the killer might be, throughout the book Rose offers up different potential suspects which you think yeah it might be actually only then to find out it was an extremely well written red herring.

The main characters of the book are Reed Solliday, Mia Mitchell and of course the crazed killer that brings them all together. Fans of other Rose books will notice some familiar characters, but for new readers this addition doesn’t make a difference to the quality of the book.

The story is about the hell that two brothers endure in the foster care system, being let down when they needed protecting the most. One brother ends up dead and the other seeks revenge the only way he knows how, by setting off huge arson attacks in the homes of people responsible.

It is this case that brings Reed and Mia together, she is a homicide detective and he is an arson investigator. Together they try to bring the killer to justice before he kills too many people. Team work isn’t the only thing between these two as a flicker of romance lurks between them.

To find out what happens to all of these characters I would strongly suggest reading this book. It has everything that will make your spine tingle, it will make you laugh and it will make you want to weep!

Have You Seen Her by Karen Rose

Well where do I start with this book, it is fantastic, it has horror, suspense, romance, and a little bit of sex all in one story what could be better. I have to say that I do love a good thriller and this plot just hit the spot for me, the story was that good I had trouble putting the book down.

One of the main characters in this story, Steven Thatcher, has featured in Karen Rose’s previous book but the two books are not linked in any way. Every so often the book makes reference to events that took place before but it does explain them so don’t feel you must have read the other one first, you should do because its good but not because you need to.

The main story is that teenage girls are going missing from their homes at night only to turn up murdered days later. The police need to find out who has been committing these heinous crimes before more girls get hurt, Special Agent Thatcher is in charge of running the investigation and trying to keep his family together at the same time.

On meeting Jenna Marshall, his eldest son’s teacher, Steven cannot take his mind off of her and the sparks fly. unfortunately Steven isn’t the only one who has his eye on the lovely Jenna!

A great read from start to finish, highly recommended to all thriller fans.

Don’t Tell by Karen Rose

This is a fantastic book from Karen Rose, she is one of my many collected authors and I have to say I haven’t read a bad book from her yet. Don’t Tell is the first book that Rose wrote and I have to say it was well written and the story line well thought out even for a first novel, it is easy to see why she has gone on to write so many books.

Don’t Tell is a harrowing look into the world of domestic abuse and the women and children left to deal with it on their own without help for years. Mary Grace Winters is the main character of the book and I must say her character was strong and determined and so well written that I connected with her immediately. Her story told here in this book, whilst fictional, still upset me as it probably will most of its readers.

The only way Mary Grace knew of saving her and her son from her husband was to fake their deaths and assume new identities – Caroline and Tom Stewart, unfortunately her husband finally realises their disappearance may not have been and accident and he begins the search to find her…..and make her pay for stealing his son away from him. Can anyone help her before her husband finds her and hurts her again?

A fantastic read from start to finish, the book is full of sadness, anger, pain, love and hope so for those of you who enjoy a good variety of everything this if a book for you.